On The Bench
An acoustic/electric hybrid guitar I'm calling "Thorus".
I decided to combine an acoustic-like instrument with the comfort
and playability of an electric guitar.
In order to produce a convincing acoustic tone when it is
“plugged in”, I chose to install an under-saddle pickup system on a fixed bridge with a spruce top that has
a conventional bracing scheme. The idea here is that the pickup should “hear” close to what it would on a
conventionally built acoustic guitar but it just happens to be mounted on a smaller and shallower bodied
instrument. I am also installing a magnetic pickup near the end of the fret board to give the player more
options in live situations. The two pickup systems will have separate outputs and the magnetic pickup will
have tone and volume at the instrument, like a regular electric guitar
One of the newish ideas I had was to build-in a rail support
system that connects the neck through to the tail of the body. The rails connect the head block to the tail
block, supporting string tension without disrupting string vibration translation to the spruce top. It tuned
out that the rails also allowed me to string up the guitar without a back on yet so I had an opportunity
to tweak the braces and install and test the electronics before closing up the guitar.
As I was fitting the neck, it became obvious I needed to work
out a way to make it removable so I designed a single bolt-on system that has worked nicely for this instrument.
I may implement a version of this design into the next acoustic build. It is very easy to take off the
neck for transporting the guitar and also servicing for neck resets in the future.
A close-up of the rosewood, pinless bridge and Italian, “bearclaw”
spruce top
I’ve been real happy with this guitar so far. It seems to
work as designed and provides a variety of sounds electronically for different live situations. Thorus produces
a fairly full range of responsive tone un-plugged as well, although quieter than a full bodied acoustic. I am thinking
with a few small design changes, this instrument could work for jazz players as well as anyone looking for a light weight,
easy playing, responsive, hybrid electric guitar.
E-mail Wade
